‘Amused’ Cat Stevens back home
Silly me; I’d always thought that the whole raison d’etre for the Department of Homeland Insecurity was to keep the Homeland safe. How was I to know that it’s really about making stupid decisions for reasons that no one in their right mind can even BEGIN to explain.
Of course, I can (sort of) understand the reasoning behind this insanity. Hmm…he was a successful recording artist who converted to Islam…ergo, he MUST be a terrorist. What other explanation could their POSSIBLY be?
Islam, the peace activist and singer once known as Cat Stevens, said he was traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, with his daughter for a recording session when he was approached aboard the flight into Washington, D.C.
“Suddenly we were forced to land and suddenly I was being interrogated by all these FBI officers,” Islam said at an impromptu press conference at London’s Heathrow Airport.
“The whole thing is totally ridiculous. Everybody knows who I am, you know, I’m no secret figure. Everybody knows my campaigning for charity, for peace. And there’s got to be a whole lot of explanations. Hopefully there will be that.”
Of course, in the Alice-in-Wonderland world inhabited by Tom Ridge and his Department of Homeland Insecurity, there is always a perfectly acceptable reason for leaving the ridiculous behind for the realm of the sublime.
Don’t get me wrong; I understand that there are some aspects of the Moral Equivalent Of The War against terrorism that must for security concerns remain under wraps. Surely, though, some DHS weenie must have realized the public relations nightmare that would necessarily follow kicking a ’70s pop icon out of the US for unspecified, generic reasons.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accused Islam of having some unspecified relationship with terrorist activity.
“Celebrity or unknown, our job is to act on information that others have given us,” Ridge said.
“And in this instance, there was some relationship between the name and the terrorists’ activity with this individual’s name being on that no-fly list, and appropriate action was taken.”
Stevens may well be tithing to al-Qaeda, or he may giving charity concerts for them. Somehow I doubt it, but IF that is the case, what is the harm in being a bit more specific about the reasons for his expulsion? In a day and age when anyone named “Dave Nelson” finds themselves on a terrorist “watch list”, we are running the risk of being viewed as arbitrary and capricious.
Given my virulent opposition to Our S…oops, sorry, Bob, I promised I wasn’t going to do that anymore, didn’t I??…George W. Bush, there is every possibility, given the current climate, that I could find myself on a terrorist watch list. Isn’t the point to be able to recognize and exclude LEGITIMATE threats? If Stevens IS a legitimate threat to the safety and security of this country, we deserve to know why. Unless we question the reasons behind these decisions, we run the risk of our government denying entrance to those who merely differ publicly with this Administration. Think it couldn’t happen? It would seem that it already is.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
Apparantly there are some connections to some radical groups -- but they tend to be older ones, while in recent years he has been a forceful voice against terrorism.
Strikes me as absurd -- we want folks to reject the terrorists, but it doesn't matter if they do because they didn't used to reject the terrorists.
It does seem silly, but of course they restricted the flights of the horrible terrost Kennedy (makes you wonder at the sense of humor of the low level analyst that put Teddy's name on the list).
Apparently he flew into New York earlier this year without any problems whatsoever.
Maybe Bush heard the song "Peace Train" and figured he was just another liberal hippie coming to ask him questions that aren't on the script?
Nice catch on the near Sainted slip up, northstar!
Moonshadow has been replaying in my mind since I heard this news, so I tossed a Best of CD in the player in an effort stop the repetitious performance. I haven't listened to it in years. It's playing as I type.
I'm not sure what's up with his interrupted travel plans.
But I am thoroughly enjoying his works. His music causes me to recollect my "age of innocence" that coincided with his popularity. The crisp, technically impressive music and expressive lyrics of Cat Stevens are rare.
Here's a link to a brief bio by Bob Garcia of A&M Records. It's similar to the write-up included with my (1987) Best of CD. The last paragraph:
My comment is totally lacking in political or topical relavence. But that's OK. I'm enjoying his music!